[Scientific connotation of temperature control in processing of Chinese medicinal materials based on theory of quality evaluation through morphological identification].

Processing of Chinese medicinal materials is an important part in the Chinese medicine heritage, and the temperature control in the processing has a direct impact on the quality and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicines. However, the processing of Chinese medicinal materials has the problems of subjective temperature judgement, determination of the end point based on experience, unclear processing mechanism, unstable quality of products, and inconsistent processing standards. The temperature control in the processing is reflected in the appearance and internal quality of Chinese medicinal materials. The theory of quality evaluation through morphological identification is developed based on the comprehensive evaluation of the shape, color, taste, and components, which is associated with the temperature control in the processing. To solve the problems above, this paper puts forward the following solutions. The first is literature mining. By review of the ancient medical works and pharmaceutical experience, the temperature control in processing and the evolution of processing methods can be revealed. Second, according to the ancient method, the processing principle can be explored, on the basis of which the processing technology can be innovated. Third, the standard operating procedure(SOP) should be established to quantify the fire temperature, providing a theoretical basis for the formulation of Chinese medicinal material processing standards. Moreover, it provides a basis for improving the quality of processed products and increasing the safety and effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicines.

[Conversion of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) into nanomedicine:application of theory of unification of medicines and excipients].

In recent years, the use of active substances as excipients or as substitutes for other excipients in the design of modern drug delivery systems has received widespread attention, which has promoted the development of the theory of unification of medicines and excipients in the design of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) preparations. Adopting the theory of unification of medicines and excipients to design drug delivery systems can reduce the use of excipients and thus the cost of preparations, reduce drug toxicity, increase drug solubility and biocompatibility, enhance synergistic effect, and realize targeted delivery and simultaneous delivery of multiple components. However, the research on the application of this theory in the modern drug delivery system of TCM preparations is still insufficient, with few relevant articles. In addition, the TCM active substances that can be used as the excipients remain to be catalogued. In this paper, we review the types and applications of the drug delivery systems with TCM active substances as excipients and describe their common construction methods and mechanisms, aiming to provide references for the in-depth research on the modern drug delivery systems for TCM preparations.

[Application and problems analysis of traditional Chinese medicine volatile oil preparation technology based on ionic liquids].

Ionic liquids(ILs) are salts composed entirely of anions and cations in a liquid state at or near room temperature, which have a variety of good physicochemical properties such as low volatility and high stability. This paper mainly reviewed the research overview of ILs in the application of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) volatile oil preparation technology. Firstly, it briefly introduced the application of TCM volatile oil preparation technology and composition classification and physicochemical properties of ILs, and then summarized the application of ILs in the extraction, separation, analysis, and preparation of TCM volatile oil. Finally, the problems and challenges of ILs in the application of TCM volatile oil were explained, and the application of ILs in TCM volatile oil in the future was prospected.

[Quality control mode based on engineering quality view of Chinese medicine pharmacy].

Due to the characteristics of confusing varieties of Chinese medicinal materials, different sources, complex chemical composition, non-standard preparation process, and non-standard pharmaceutical equipment, the quality of Chinese medicinal preparations is difficult to be controlled and evaluated effectively under the current quality control mode and method of Chinese medicinal preparation. The present study proposed an engineering quality view of Chinese medicine pharmacy and a strategy to control the quality of Chinese medicinal preparations based on the current situation. The "overall, dialectical, and dynamic" multi-factor engineering quality view, covering original medicinal materials, preparation technologies, pharmaceutical equipment, and Chinese medicinal preparations, ensures the traceable process, measurable procedures, and feedback quality. The quality control mode of Chinese medicinal preparation with controllable sources, standardized preparation technologies, green pharmaceutical equipment, and intelligent manufacturing is built up.

[Stability improvement of Chinese medicinal essential oils based on delivery systems and their application in medical field].

Essential oils from Chinese medicine are popular in the fields such as medicine, food, and cosmetics because of their unique biological characteristics. However, since essential oils are lipophilic compounds with high volatility, poor stability, and strong irritation, various preparation technologies need to be employed to improve stability, reduce irritation, and increase bioavailability. At present, a variety of preparation technologies have been applied to the encapsulation of essential oils. Various encapsulation strategies are formed because of different delivery systems featured with multiple principles and characteristics and are widely used to improve the stability of essential oils. Essential oils of Chinese medicine are widely used in the medical field, and they are under continuous innovation and development in clinical research, the pharmaceutical industry, medical products, etc. The present study summarized various delivery systems that could improve the stability of essential oils and reviewed the applications of essential oils encapsulated in the delivery systems in the medical field to provide re-ferences for the improvement of stability of essential oils and their safety, efficiency, and wide use in the medical field.

Novel mathematic models for quantitative transitivity of quality-markers in extraction process of the Buyanghuanwu decoction.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, to research and formulate an efficiency extraction system for Chinese herbal medicine, scientists have always been facing a great challenge for quality management, so that the transitivity of Q-markers in quantitative analysis of TCM was proposed by Prof. Liu recently. In order to improve the quality of extraction from raw medicinal materials for clinical preparations, a series of integrated mathematic models for transitivity of Q-markers in quantitative analysis of TCM were established. Buyanghuanwu decoction (BYHWD) was a commonly TCMs prescription, which was used to prevent and treat the ischemic heart and brain diseases. In this paper, we selected BYHWD as an extraction experimental subject to study the quantitative transitivity of TCM. STUDY DESIGN: Based on theory of Fick's Rule and Noyes-Whitney equation, novel kinetic models were established for extraction of active components. Meanwhile, fitting out kinetic equations of extracted models and then calculating the inherent parameters in material piece and Q-marker quantitative transfer coefficients, which were considered as indexes to evaluate transitivity of Q-markers in quantitative analysis of the extraction process of BYHWD. METHODS: HPLC was applied to screen and analyze the potential Q-markers in the extraction process. Fick's Rule and Noyes-Whitney equation were adopted for mathematically modeling extraction process. Kinetic parameters were fitted and calculated by the Statistical Program for Social Sciences 20.0 software. The transferable efficiency was described and evaluated by potential Q-markers transfer trajectory via transitivity availability AUC, extraction ratio P, and decomposition ratio D respectively. The Q-marker was identified with AUC, P, D. RESULTS: Astragaloside IV, laetrile, paeoniflorin, and ferulic acid were studied as potential Q-markers from BYHWD. The relative technologic parameters were presented by mathematic models, which could adequately illustrate the inherent properties of raw materials preparation and affection of Q-markers transitivity in equilibrium processing. AUC, P, D for potential Q-markers of AST-IV, laetrile, paeoniflorin, and FA were obtained, with the results of 289.9 mAu s, 46.24%, 22.35%; 1730 mAu s, 84.48%, 1.963%; 5600 mAu s, 70.22%, 0.4752%; 7810 mAu s, 24.29%, 4.235%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the suitable Q-markers were laetrile and paeoniflorin in our study, which exhibited acceptable traceability and transitivity in the extraction process of TCMs. Therefore, these novel mathematic models might be developed as a new standard to control TCMs quality process from raw medicinal materials to product manufacturing.

A novel concept of Q-markers: Molecular connectivity index.

BACKGROUND: Drugs derived from botany have been playing essential role in both clinical treatment and pharmaceutical industry, unfortunately our worry is still that its quality and therapeutic efficacy are inconsistent. Recently many scientists launched a new project on quality (Q)-marker of medicinal herbs, this study was thus designed to generate a novel concept of quality (Q)-markers: molecular connectivity index (MCI), and to test and verify the new concept of molecular connectivity index (MCI). METHODS: The first-order term (1χ) was selected to calculate and study quality (Q)-marker for TCM. Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (HCT) was adopted as a model to verify the hypothesis. Volatile oils of HCT were determined using gas chromatography-mass (GC-MS). SIMCA 13.0 and SPSS 21.0 were used to deal with the data. RESULTS: The minimum of the MCI values was 1.273, belonging to the peak 15, but the maximum (12.822) belonged to the peak 34, and the average value of fifty volatile oils was 5.798. The results demonstrated that MCI was the principle component, and monoterpenoid and sesquiterpenoid were also the principle components in oils. Fig. 2a shows peak 5, 24, 34 were the significant ingredients, while Fig. 2b shows peak 2, 5, 24 were the significant components. CONCLUSION: The data demonstrated that MCI was associated with the structure of molecules and the therapeutic efficacy, MCI could directly exhibit the relationship between ingredients and effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). So MCI could be a potential and promising parameter for quality (Q)-marker. Therefore, MCI may be developed as a novel potential concept to control the quality of TCM.

Application of TQSM polypharmacokinetics and its similarity approach to ascertain Q-marker by analyses of transitivity in vivo of five candidates in Buyanghuanwu injection.

BACKGROUND: It is well-known that the public still have been facing on a severe issue about the inconsistency of quality and therapeutic efficacy of traditional medicines. Recently, Professor Chang-Xiao Liu has created a new promising concept for identifying relevant quality-markers (Q-marker) from herbs, their formulas and manufacturing products. Therefore, building up a new approach is necessary for us to bridge over quality to efficacy of pharmaceutical products. STUDY DESIGN: In this paper, five candidate Q-markers, astragaloside IV, paeonflorin, amygdalin, tetramethylpyrazine, ferulic acid in Buyanghuanwu injection (BYHWI) had been designed to carry out in rat by using single and polypharmacokinetic models for total quanta to ascertain adequate Q-marker. METHODS: The Q-marker transitivity in vivo was studied with polypharmacokinetic model and its similarity approach, which were modeled with TQSM principle. The Q-marker was ascertained with transitive similarity and bioavailability in polypharmacokinetics. Their concentrations in plasma sample of white rat were determined by RP-HPLC. Data analyses were used by the DAS software for singles and myself-written-program with EXCEL for multiples. RESULTS: In BYHWI, five candidate Q-marker pharmacokinetic profiles were singly fixed to two compartmental models in rat using classical compartmental analysis, but there were tremendous differences among which the candidate parameters were fluctuated from nearly 3552 folds to equivalency. The theoretical value of TQSM polypharmacokinetic parameters such as AUCT, MRTT, VRTT, CLT, VT over the mixure of five drugs were 110.8 ±â€¯51.91 mg min ml-1, 176.0 ±â€¯36.5 min, 39,921 ±â€¯4311 min2, 0.3116 ±â€¯0.02347 ml min-1 kg-1, 54.83 ±â€¯7.683 ml kg-1 respectively. The TQSM polypharmacokinetic parameters in astragaloside Ⅳ ordered by AUCT, MRTT, VRTT, CLT, VT were 110.8 ±â€¯51.91 mg min ml-1, 176.0 ±â€¯36.5 min, 39,921 ±â€¯4311 min2, 0.3116 ±â€¯0.02347 ml min-1 kg-1, 54.83 ±â€¯7.683 ml kg-1, respectively, which were closed to the theoretical values. TQSM similarity versus astragaloside Ⅳ was 0.9661. CONCLUSION: The results represented that the optimum Q-marker in BYHWI is astragaloside Ⅳ, whose transitivity in vivo similarity was close to the behavior of polypharmacokinetics with maximum bioavailability to the total quanta. It is feasible for Q-marker in CMMs to screen on the comparison of single pharmacokinetic behavior and bioavailability to the total quanta.